


Downed

by Thursday26



Category: How to Train Your Dragon (Movies)
Genre: AU, Angst, First Meeting, Medical Procedure?, No anaesthesia, Other, asshole!Stoick, movie 1 AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-09
Updated: 2019-03-09
Packaged: 2019-11-14 08:03:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,567
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18048719
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thursday26/pseuds/Thursday26
Summary: Hiccup and Toothless meet in a different way.HTTYD 1 AUNo HTTYD 2 or HTTYD: HW (3) spoilers





	Downed

**Author's Note:**

  * For [sarahenany](https://archiveofourown.org/users/sarahenany/gifts).



> okat this was written a long time ago and I was absolutely horrified and disappointed with myself when I realised that I hadn't posted this. I think I wrote this when they were all doing the "what if things were different?" episode, but I can't be sure... i just know it's been too long and I'm sorry. 
> 
> So this is a HTTYD1 AU where Hiccup and Toothless meet in a different way. It may be a little confusing because I sort of mimic the start of the movie, but Toothless (or just the Night Fury at that point in the film) is not present for the raid where Hiccup gets into trouble. so SPOILER hiccupnevershootstoothlessfromthesky SPOILER 
> 
> so this is just my thoughts on what could have happened. 
> 
> also i'm gifting this to my Beta because she is a treasure and I need to treat her better <3 so little present <3 
> 
> This work doesn't get a tag to follow on twitter because, well, it's already fully done! But if you guys want one to discuss it, just let me know and I'll come up with a tag <3
> 
> OH! almost forgot! between the "~~~" is a flashback!

Hiccup stumbles through the forest, bumping into trees and tripping over exposed roots. He was doing so well. He was doing _so well_. But he really messed up last night. He knows he messed up, but hearing his dad and Gobber talking this morning was too much to handle.

Real Vikings don’t cry. Real men don’t cry, but he can hardly see past the tears stinging his eyes. To anyone else, it would look like Hiccup was crying. But he’s not crying. He’s not. He can’t be. He’s a real Viking, a real man, despite what everyone else says, or how many times they call him useless.

He stumbles over another root, almost landing flat on his face. This forest is mostly unexplored, dark and untamed. The only Vikings that explored this area went through it twice, to map it, but none have come back here since. They claim there’s something hidden between the trees that darts around the edges of your vision. They didn’t want to challenge whatever force was living in the shadows, so they left the forest as undisturbed as they could. And because of that fear, the forest has been left alone.

Hiccup remembers exploring this forest when he was younger, a small, sharp memory from when he was too dumb to know any better. His curiosity took him into the trees when Stoick turned his back for a minute. He was caught and brought out of the trees barely a minute later, hardly any exploration to be had that time, and he endured a terrifying lecture from Stoick, warning against entering that forest alone. So he’s been in this forest, but never this far out. No one has been this far out.

No one would think to look for Hiccup here. He needs somewhere to hide. Not because he’s crying. No. He’s angry. He’s _so_ angry that is eyes are leaking. And he has to calm down. Because he doesn’t want to hurt anyone with how angry he is. Yes. That’s it. It’s the only place that Hiccup can think of where he can be alone without anyone catching him… yelling. He’s not finding somewhere secluded to cry, no. Only babies do that. He needs to yell, to hit something. That’ll calm him down enough so he’s not dangerous to others.

He trips again, and he should take it as a sign from the gods to turn back. But he needs to make sure he’s... safe for everyone else. He can’t be a danger to anyone, so he needs to calm down. And the conversation he overheard between his dad and Gobber keeps replaying through his head and pushing him further into the shadows

~~~

Hiccup woke to gruff voices. Not unusual. Stoick sometimes does his chiefing from home and Gobber is usually with him in these instances. Sometimes other members of the council are present, but Hiccup can recognize Gobber’s voice. They’re talking about something serious. Hiccup can tell just from the tone of their voices, even if he can’t hear the words.

Hiccup feels heavy, already having a good idea as to what has them so serious this morning. He went outside during last night’s dragon raid, despite Stoick’s strict orders to **stay inside–** and caught the attention of a very mean Nightmare. Stoick had to step in and save Hiccup, and, because he was so busy saving Hiccup’s ass, the dragons that some of the men had captured were able to escape. Along with most of Sven’s sheep. The glares of the other villagers were nothing compared to the ragged disappointment in Stoick’s face once he learned the losses of the raid.

Hiccup only wanted to help.

Yes, he made a joke to Stoick, but he didn’t mean it. He feels guilty so many sheep were taken, but he didn’t like the heavy atmosphere and was trying his best to lighten it. If anything, it only made things worse. Hiccup wanted to cry. Winter is coming and food is always more scarce when it gets colder. Now, thanks to Hiccup, it will be even more scarce in the coming winter months. And they won’t have as much wool supply either. There are newborns in the village. How are they going to keep warm if there’s not enough wool?

How is Stoick going to clean up this mess? Hiccup wishes that he didn’t have to rely on his dad to solve his problems, but he knows if he tries, he’ll only make everything worse. If his machine hadn’t failed… he would be going out in search of his prize. He had spotted a Nightmare, darker than the others, not on fire yet. He took aim, and fired… and the machine jammed. Made an awful noise as well, catching said Nightmare’s attention. Made an even worse noise being crushed under the Nightmare’s weight. That was dumb. Such a dumb idea. How could he have been so dumb?

Once the dust settled, and he got that awfully disappointed look from Stoick, Gobber took him home. Hiccup followed, head down, trying to figure out what made his machine fail. What went wrong? Was it worth even trying to fix? Is it even worth making new weapons? No one likes them and they never seem to work anyway.

He crawled into bed and must have fallen asleep for a little bit. He can’t remember falling asleep. But now that he knows Stoick and Gobber are up, there’s no use staying in bed.

He pulls himself from his bed, still dressed in the clothes he was wearing the night before, and walks to the top of the stairs. Gobber is saying something, Hiccup can’t quite make it out, but he sounds serious. “I don’t know what to do with that boy,” Stoick growls, the words cutting through any lingering tiredness in Hiccup’s mind.

He freezes in his tracks, eyes wide and holding his breath, straining his ears to hear more. He’s never heard Stoick sound so disappointed, or angry, at Hiccup before (and obviously they’re talking about him).

“He’s your son,” Gobber says, voice soft. “What can you do?”

“Why does he have to be _my_ son?” Stoick asks, defeated. “He’s been a disappointment since he’s been able to walk.”

“Now, Stoick—”

“No, Gobber,” Stoick cuts him off, voice hard, “it was fine when he was a babe, all this wide-eyed wonder and curiosity, but now he’s supposed to be a man. And he can’t do the simplest things! Follow the simplest orders!”

“I know he’s a little much—”

“What do I tell him every time there’s a dragon raid?” Stoick asks, cutting Gobber off again. Hiccup can imagine the dark glare he’s giving Gobber right now.

Gobber inhales deeply, tiredly. Hiccup can hear it clear as day all the way upstairs. “To stay inside,” he recites, much like a bored child that’s been lectured a million times.

“To stay inside!” Stoick repeats, yelling. “And what does that boy do?!”

Gobber inhales again. “Goes outside.”

“Yes!” Something falls over downstairs. Probably Stoick’s chair. “Every!” His fist slams against something. Probably the table. “Time!” He hits it again. “Every single time!” he yells again, punctuating it with another couple of slams against the table. There’s a lump in Hiccup’s throat. Is this really how his dad feels? “A man follows his chief’s orders! He always does! But Hiccup disobeys me! Every! Single! Time!”

“Stoick,” Gobber says, voice low and calm, “Hiccup is on the cusp of manhood, and he’s trying to prove himself to you through the only way that Vikings know: battle. He made a mistake.”

“A mistake,” Stoick scoffs. “A mistake is putting your pants on backwards, or forgetting your helmet in the Great Hall. Hiccup,” Stoick pauses, “is a menace.”

Hiccup covers his mouth to stop himself from making a noise. Are his cheeks wet? Is he crying? No. Men don’t cry. He can’t be crying. “Stoick! That’s your son you’re talking about!”

Stoick scoffs again. “Don’t get all high and mighty on me, you think the same thing. Everyone does.”

Hiccup holds his breath, waiting for Gobber’s answer. Gobber likes him. Gobber thinks he has good ideas. Gobber doesn’t think he’s a menace. “He’s a little accident-prone, but he’s not a menace.” There’s a heavy silence. “Not much of a menace,” he corrects.

Something stabs through Hiccup’s heart.

 _No one_ likes him?

Stoick chuckles darkly. “See? Even you think he’s a menace, and you’re probably the only Viking who likes him.”

Hiccup can’t breathe. He staggers to the chest at the end of his bed and grabs his coat. He needs to leave. He needs to go somewhere else. Be somewhere else. Hiccup’s breathing is ragged, catching and loud in his ears. Stoick can’t mean it. He can’t, Hiccup tells himself. He’s only upset about the dragon raid last night. The bitter loss of their supplies is still too fresh for Stoick to be anything but upset.

Hiccup takes a moment to steady his breathing, and the pounding in his ears starts to fade. He catches Stoick’s voice, “… such a disappointment.”

Hiccup swipes at his face, making sure that it’s dry before he goes down the stairs. He has to walk past them to leave the house. Stoick got rid of Hiccup’s rope ladder, the one that he wanted to have in his room in case there was a fire and he needed to go out the window. Stoick called it “un-Vikingly” and threw it into the fire, to prove that it wouldn’t be any good in a fire at all. Hiccup watched his invention burn that night, eyes dry. After that, he’s kept any of his notes and blueprints carefully hidden from Stoick. Who knows what else he’ll call un-Vikingly?

The top step creaks under his weight and Hiccup hesitates for a moment. An uncomfortable silence permeates the air, making it heavy.

“He’s home?!” Gobber bellows. Hiccup rushes down the stairs, in time to see Stoick shrug. Neither man looks at him. Gobber looks pale, shocked stare fixed on Stoick. “How could you, Stoick?” he asks.

Stoick looks indifferent. “I can’t keep track of the menace. I'm surprised that he followed orders for once and stayed home,” he says defiantly.

Hiccup ducks his head at the accusation and rushes out the door, Gobber calling after him. He doesn’t look back.

~~~~

Hiccup stumbles again, this time falling flat onto his face and unable to make himself get back up. He crumbles, sobs tearing from his body, heavy and loud.

His hand is by his head and he twists it into the earth. This far in, the forest floor is mostly dirt. It’s heavy and damp between his fingers. He pushes his forehead into the ground, pressing it into the dirt. And he sobs harder. Dirt sticks to his teeth and he can taste the earth, but he can’t stop crying. How could Stoick---his own father---say that? How long has Stoick believed that? Hiccup can’t breathe. He only wanted to help!

… he only wants to help…

There’s a snap of a twig near him and the noise is enough to force his head up. He looks around, but he can’t see a thing. It’s too dark. He looks up, the canopy of trees dense over him, letting only a little bit of light through. Over his shoulder, he can see the faint light from the direction he came, otherwise he has no idea where he is. Or what made that noise.

And there is something there, lurking around him. Hiccup can hear it breathing. He freezes. It’s steady and deep. Too steady and deep… like a predator. And the sound of the twig? Too loud to be anything small.

Hiccup scrambles to his feet and presses his back against a tree. There’s a good chance he won’t be able to outrun whatever it is, but he knows better than to turn his back on it.

What is it?

His eyes dart around, trying to find anything that’s making a sound, something different from the shadows that surround him. Something moves to the left, out of the corner of his eye, far too close. But when Hiccup looks, he can only see shadows.

His heart is hammering in his chest. What is he going to do? He’s not a warrior. He can’t fight an unknown adversary. He can’t _fight_. Especially not without a weapon. Hiccup doesn’t even have a dagger on him. A warrior would never leave his house unarmed.

Then he has a thought.

Stoick’s voice is still echoing in his head, quieter under the sheer panic of facing some invisible foe, repeating ‘disappointment’ over and over again. Maybe…

Maybe this is better.

He closes his eyes, tears falling from the corners. It’s not ideal. He doesn’t want to die. But maybe dying is for the best. If he dies now, Stoick can move on, can find another wife and have another son. One that isn’t a menace.

Maybe if he dies… Stoick might miss him.

Hiccup’s knees start to shake under him. He’s not safe, but the fight is leaving him. He can’t stay standing, too scared. A broken sob leaves his throat and he collapses to the ground. He pulls his knees to his chest and curls into a tight ball. Every part of him is shaking, but he can’t do anything. He can never do anything.

Hot breath on his left ear.

Oh gods. It’s so close.

Hiccup whimpers, flinching from the strange creature, but he can feel its breath following him.

So.

Close.

This is it.

Hiccup is going to die.

And the last thing his father saw was him running from the house, probably with tear tracks on his face. More tears fall from his eyes. Why is he such a disappointment?

The breath puffs over his side again and Hiccup can hear the creature sniffing at him. “Please,” Hiccup prays, “please make it quick.”

There’s an inquisitive purr. Gods. It’s a dragon.

He can’t imagine what kind of dragon it would be, though. The forest is too dense for a Gronckle or a Nightmare. Maybe a small Nadder, but they like open spaces. Cliffs the best. A Timberjack would level the forest. Scauldron? No. That’s stupid.

The dragon nudges him and Hiccup flops over, his flight response kicking in with the movement. He’s on his feet before he can think about it and he’s running as fast as he can towards any light. Sure, the dragon is behind him, but he isn’t going to die without trying to escape at least once. Or that’s what he tells himself now that the dragon hasn’t killed him on sight.

He doesn’t get far. The shadows have receded a bit, but he still trips over a root and sprawls out face first. He’s shaking too hard to get his feet under him again. He flips over, scrambling backwards, eyes wide and trying to catch any sort of movement. Trying to catch a glimpse of the dragon that’s going to kill him.

Then he sees it. A moving shadow. Hiccup fixes his gaze there, scrambling in the opposite direction. The shadow continues to move, gathering shape as the forest gets lighter. What could it be? It’s so small for a dragon. If it’s that small, is it even dangerous? Like, Terrors are annoying, but they aren’t truly a threat when they’re alone. Even to a weakling like Hiccup.

This dragon is alone. And it keeps on moving towards Hiccup. Slowly. Cautiously.

The shadow gains more of a shape. Definitely a dragon. Round head. Ear flaps. No horns. Green eyes. Smallish, for a dragon. Bigger than Hiccup (although that’s not a hard thing to do) but smaller than a Gronckle. Shorter at least. Maybe longer. And black.

Black as night.

Hiccup’s stomach drops. It can’t be…

Night Fury?

 _Hide and pray it does not find you_ , echoes inside his head. No one has survived a Night Fury before. The village breathed a sigh of relief when the Night Fury that was usually part of the raids stopped. No one knows what happened, but without the Night Fury, the dragons have been less successful at escaping the Vikings and at making off with their supplies. At least until Hiccup decides to step outside.

Oh gods. He can’t even hide. He’s staring right into its eyes. And it’s getting closer.

Hiccup backs into a base of a tree. No. No. No. No. No. He can’t turn his back on the dragon again, but he’s trapped. It’s getting too close, its steps bigger than Hiccup’s scrambling. The dragon gets closer and Hiccup stretches out on the ground, trying to keep as much distance between them as possible.

“Oh gods,” Hiccup whimpers when the dragon steps over him, green eyes boring into him. The dragon radiates heat and smells like lightning. Its pupils are large and it looks… curious?

Then, without warning, a large, wet tongue swipes over Hiccup’s face, slobbering, heavy, and so wet! Hiccup sputters, reflexively trying to push the dragon’s head away from him. “What are you doing?” Hiccup demands, forgetting that he’s pushing away a _Night Fury._

The dragon purrs and nuzzles his head, too heavy to be pushed away. Still, Hiccup tries to shove it away, until a low growl from the beast keeps him in place. Hiccup has to remind himself that this isn’t some dog or cat. This is a vicious, bloodthirsty creature. It could kill him in a moment. Staying still is probably his best bet to stay alive.

The dragon snuffles over him from head to toe, and Hiccup’s muscles tense, keeping him as still as possible. It’s almost like the dragon is looking for something. It nudges Hiccup’s vest open and makes a pleased sound. Hiccup is holding his breath. If he had a dagger, that’s where he would keep it. The dragon knows where Vikings keep their weapons.

Hiccup doesn’t know how long they stay like that, but there is no warning when the dragon sits back on its haunches. There’s an awkward moment of silence and confusion. Hiccup doesn’t know what to do. The dragon makes an impatient noise and Hiccup sits up, confused. It’s staring at him, head tilted. “What do you want?” Hiccup asks, careful. Purposely kind. Unthreatening. He feels tired, heavy, now that he’s not immediately scared he’ll be eaten. But his eyes won’t close. They’re open as wide as they can go.

The dragon coos and leans down. Hiccup doesn’t move this time. It nuzzles Hiccup’s face. Hiccup jerks at the display of affection. Why is the dragon doing this? Is it trying to lower Hiccup’s defenses? Does it plan to strike when Hiccup relaxes?

The dragon nuzzles the other side of his face and Hiccup’s hands come up without a thought. He freezes when he feels warm scales against his palms. He’s touching a Night Fury. Him. Hiccup the Useless. Berk’s menace.

The dragon leans into the touch and Hiccup starts petting its neck. If only Stoick could see him now. But thinking about his dad reminds him of the conversation he overheard this morning. Without the imminent fear of being eaten, Hiccup starts crying again.

The dragon makes a soothing noise and pulls Hiccup as close as possible with its forelegs. Hiccup can feel the rumble of the dragon purring, and the heat radiating from it is so nice. It’s freezing outside. Cold enough that a person never truly warms up unless they’re almost inside their fireplace. But being pressed close to this dragon is warming him straight to his core.

Hiccup, exhausted by the extreme feelings over the morning, falls asleep without thinking twice about it, tears still streaming down his face. He should be scared of this dragon, terrified that he will be eaten at any moment, but he only feels comfort. Even if the dragon does decide to kill him, Hiccup almost wishes it would happen in his sleep. He wants his last memory to be this warmth.

* * *

 

Hiccup is surprised to wake up. It feels like he may be dreaming when his eyes do open. He’s warm, and he feels safe, and he’s still seeing that Night Fury. Then he’s surprised to see that the dragon’s face is pulled tight, like it’s in pain. “Are you hurt?” Hiccup asks, genuinely concerned.

The dragon squints at him, pupils narrowing a bit. Hiccup doesn’t look away. He doesn’t feel scared.

The dragon looks for a long time, like it’s sizing Hiccup up, then he stands and turns a bit, showing Hiccup its tail. One of the fins is mangled and rotten, like it got caught in a barbed wire trap (meant more to capture Terrors) and tore itself free.

Hiccup shoots to his feet. That has to be painful. He has to help. The dragon looks startled at the sudden movement, but stays calm. “I need to get some things from my hut. Some things that’ll help. You know? I’ll be right back, okay?” Hiccup tries to explain to it. The dragon stares at him. Hiccup can’t take too long to explain though; even though they’re still in a dense part of the forest, Hiccup can tell he doesn’t have much sunlight left. He needs sunlight.

So he rushes off, light footsteps echoing his heavy stomps. Hiccup has always had trouble with stealth. When he breaks through the treeline, there’s more sunlight than he expected there to be. Hiccup has never been more grateful that the chief’s hut is so close to the forest.

When he gets up to the stoop, he stops. He has mixed feelings about being back here, the memory from the morning still too fresh in his mind. He’s snapped out of it though when he feels the dragon nudge his back.

“What are you–” Hiccup looks around frantically. Oh gods. The Night Fury could be spotted by anyone. He swings open the door and calls out for his dad, forcing himself to wait a couple seconds for a response before rushing in, hustling the dragon in after him and shutting the door firmly.

Hiccup takes a moment, his back pressed against the door, to take in the absurdity of a _Night Fury_ inside his home, sniffing around curiously and sticking its nose in all sorts of things. The Night Fury knocks over Stoick’s chair and it clatters loudly against the floor. That snaps Hiccup into action. He rushes around the house, gathering all the supplies he needs, the Night Fury trailing after him like a curious puppy. He rummages around for some cloths that Stoick won’t notice are missing. They have so many around the house, since Hiccup is more than likely to come home with a burn from working with Gobber. The cloths have been cleaned and are ready to be used again. He rushes around, snagging his dagger from the table.

He ignores the low, warning growl from the dragon when it sees the dagger. He’s not going to be sacred of the dragon now. Nope. He’s going to help this dragon. He can do this. “Come on,” he whispers, running out the back door again, dragon hot on his heels.

He doesn’t run into the same patch of forest they were in. The one he heads for is more travelled, but still relatively unknown, and only used this late by him, so he’s not concerned about another person seeing him. Them. Hiccup takes a worried look at the slowly fading light and hopes they make it to the river before nightfall.

Thankfully, Hiccup hears the river when he still has about two fingers’ worth of sunlight left. That should be enough time to do what needs to get done. “Give me your tail,” Hiccup orders, taking his dagger out of its sheath and holding it up, turning back to the dragon.

The dragon focuses on the knife and hisses, hunching its back and spreading its wings, taking cautious steps back. Okay, he may have enough time if the dragon cooperates.

“No. Don’t do that,” Hiccup scolds, turning his back on the dragon, scanning the ground for a mostly flat rock. Hiccup can hear the dragon’s hissing stutter. It’s probably confused why Hiccup isn’t attacking. He spots a flat rock and rushes over to it, kneeling next to it. He waves the dragon towards him, who looks very confused. “Come here. I need to cut off the dead parts.”

The dragon doesn’t move, head tilted in confusion, but its wings are still extended. It would be almost cute, if Hiccup wasn’t on a timeline. “Come on. Quickly,” he urges, waving again.

The dragon takes half a step and freezes, eyes going to the knife again. Hiccup won’t put it down. He won’t lie to the creature and pretend he won’t use it. “Come on. Your tail… it looks painful. I only want to help,” Hiccup tries to explain. Although he doesn’t know why. It’s just a dragon. But that thought makes him feel queasy.

The dragon slumps but doesn’t fully relax. It doesn’t look combative, but it looks frightened. “Please?” Hiccup tries. The dragon squints at him, focusing again on Hiccup’s dagger. “Please?” Hiccup tries again, softer this time.

How can a dragon look so suspicious? It doesn’t look away from the knife, its lips curling up a bit, and it takes a couple of steps backwards.

“No,” Hiccup calls, standing up and chasing after the dragon, leaving the knife on the rock. Hiccup catches the dragon’s face between his hands, ignoring the low growl it’s giving him. “Please? If you don’t let me do this, you could die.”

Can the dragon understand? This one seems to in the moment, fear filtering into its face. And it whimpers, ears flattening against its head. “It’s probably going to hurt,” Hiccup tells the dragon, “but it’ll get better.” He motions towards the rock again.

They are still for a few moments, then it takes a cautious step forwards. Hiccup smiles. The dragon snarls at him, something like a warning. “I’ll try,” he promises, trying not to smile. “Come on.” This is the scariest dragon known to Viking-kind?

Hiccup kneels beside the rock first, picking up the dagger. The dragon has hesitated a few steps away, but appears to collect itself and come close. The dragon sits next to Hiccup, tense, fear radiating off it. Hiccup doesn’t know what possesses him, but he reaches up and scratches under its jaw. He doesn’t want to take this extra time, they’re running out of sunlight, but it won’t help to have the dragon so scared.

The small gesture seems to help. The dragon takes a deep breath and turns around, carefully placing its mangled tail on the rock. Hiccup looks at the rotted flesh, wincing and breathing through his mouth. This dragon must be in a lot of pain. Thankfully, he’s sharpened his dagger recently. This shouldn’t take too long.

He takes a breath himself and leans on a higher part of the tail, pinning it down, and has a moment of incredulity. What is he doing, helping this dragon? Shouldn’t he be trying to kill it? To prove to his father that he’s not a disappointment? Prove that he’s a real man? He could take down a Night Fury. No one would call him Hiccup the Useless anymore.

His grasp tightens around the hilt of his dagger. The dragon’s back is to him. It’d only take one well-placed stab to take it down.

But… it doesn’t feel right. That’s what any man would do on Berk, but just the thought makes his stomach turn. Sure, this dragon scared him half to death, but it comforted Hiccup when it could have eaten him. He takes another deep breath, cringing at the sickly sweet smell of rotted flesh that assaults his nose. He owes this dragon right now. Maybe they’ll try to kill each other later, but, right now, Hiccup has a debt to repay. Kindness for kindness. And a man always repays his debts. At least that’s what Stoick tells him.

“Okay, I'm starting. This might hurt… prepare yourself,” Hiccup warns and leans down, cutting into the flesh.

The dragon cries out in pain, tail swishing and nearly dislodging Hiccup. He sways dangerously, but keeps the tail under him. Somehow. “I'm sorry,” Hiccup apologizes. “But please, stop moving.”

The sound the dragon makes breaks Hiccup’s heart. He’s in pain. Hiccup doesn’t want the dragon to be in pain.

“I know, I know,” Hiccup soothes, “I know it hurts, but please keep still. If you move too much, it’ll take forever to finish.”

The dragon whines, but stills. Well, stills as much as he can. Its muscles are tense and it’s shaking, but its tail is still. Hiccup sighs and tries to work quickly. Wet blood coats his hands with every cut, but the blood smells wrong. Hiccup has smelled dragon blood before. It smells a little different than human blood, but not by much. It’s more earthy than metallic. But this dragon’s blood smells bad. And it feels… wrong. It dries too fast on Hiccup’s hands and is stickier than tree sap.

The dragon whimpers and whines, but stays as still as it can, only twitching a couple of times under Hiccup’s movements. Hiccup apologizes as much as he can, cutting and cutting until the blood starts to smell better. Once that happens, Hiccup picks up the tail and wades into the shallow river, the dragon making a surprised noise and shuffling backwards to keep up. Whoops. Hiccup should have warned the dragon about that.

The cold water fills Hiccup’s boots and chills his toes. He submerges the tail and the dragon screeches at the cold. Hiccup doesn’t blame it for the noise. The cold has to be shocking, but he’s grateful that the dragon didn’t pull away. Hiccup lets the tail float in the water while he washes off his hands, his dagger left by the rock. Once they aren’t as sticky, Hiccup feels around the amputated area, the sun finally too low for Hiccup to do everything by sight. It feels better, and from what he can see, the cuts are a little rough. Only little pieces of his left tailfin are left on the end of his tail. Hiccup is no healer, but he thinks he did a good job.

“I'm sorry, bud,” Hiccup says, walking out of the water, leaving the tail to soak for a little more. He rubs the dragon’s head as he passes by. He goes to the small pile of cloth he brought, shoes squishing the entire way. He looks over to his dagger and decides to leave it for now. He can clean it after he finishes wrapping the dragon’s tail.

He wades back into the water, picking up the tail with one hand and balancing the cloths on his shoulder. He uses one of the cloths to clean the wound, making sure that there’s no more rotting flesh left on the limb. Nothing feels off. He brings the tail to his face, examining the wound closely. It looks pink, which is good. He takes another cloth off his shoulder, a bigger one, to wrap around the tail. He collapses the still-good tailfin to he can get a good wrap around the wound. The fin twitches as Hiccup holds it in place. “No. Don’t move this.” He looks up and the dragon is glaring at him over his shoulder. “Please?” he adds, trying not to smile. This is serious. And the dragon is _not_ cute.

The dragon huffs and turns its back. “There we go,” Hiccup chirps, walking out of the water to prevent the bandage from getting wet. He uses the already wet cloth to clean his dagger and rinses it out afterwards. The dragon watches, curious, its tail suspended off the ground. He looks so awkward with a bulky off-white cloth wrapped around the end of his tail. “Back to the forest?” Hiccup asks.

The dragon nods and starts walking away, tail held high. Hiccup watches, smiling. He’s not useless. He’s not. At least not to a mighty Night Fury.

The dragon gets a few paces away when it looks over its shoulder, giving Hiccup a look that suggests that the dragon expects him to follow. Who is Hiccup to argue against a Night Fury?

* * *

 

Hiccup spends the next two days in the darkest part of the forest, taking care of the amputated fin, watching the wound and making sure that it stays clean.

Stoick doesn’t ask where Hiccup was whenever he goes back to the house to get more supplies. He doesn’t ask where Hiccup is going either.

* * *

 

He stays hidden for another week, tending to the dragon and talking to him. Hiccup has seen… some things. The dragon is definitely a him.

He also loves how the dragon seems to understand him and that he can understand the dragon. He’s never felt this close to anyone, ever.

* * *

 

After two weeks, Hiccup starts blueprints for a new tail fin. The dragon was so sad when he realized that Hiccup removed part of his tail when the bandages come off. Hiccup needs to help him.

* * *

 

The next day he adds a saddle to the blueprints.

* * *

 

The day after that, he realizes that the dragon’s teeth are retractable.

He calls the dragon “Toothless.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading! Please leave a comment and kudos if you got the time <3 they really encourage me to continue writing <3
> 
> Also I feel like I should sort of explain my mentality surrounding the whole Hiccup/Stoick relationship. We don't really see how their relationship is beyond that interaction in front of everyone because Stoick leaves on that mission and doesn't come back until Hiccup is popular. But my opinion is that Hiccup and Stoick were on the brink of a very unhealthy/toxic relationship because Hiccup would be striving to be something that he's not and get either depressed or start to resent his father because he couldn't accept Hiccup for who he is as a person and Stoick would start to resent Hiccup because he would keep on failing to uphold the expectations that Stoick has for the Hope and Heir of Berk and the heir of the Haddock line. So it would have devolved, imo, into mutual dislike/hate that would continue to grow and fester like a rotting wound. SO that is my take on that relationship. You do not have to agree or disagree with me on this, it's just how i approached their relationship for this fic <3


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